RAMALLAH (Palestine), Dec 15: Hundreds of people gave a heroes’ welcome on Monday to more than 200 Palestinians illegally detained by Israel freed as a goodwill gesture towards Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.

Sporting traditional black and white scarfs and caps stamped with the Palestinian flag, the released inmates got off five buses in the centre of the West Bank town of Ramallah to cheers from the crowd.

Abbas, who led the welcoming ceremony, kissed and hugged the Palestinian detainees, most of whom are members of his secular Fatah movement. Israel released 210 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank as well as 17 Gazans.

“Our joy will not be complete until all 11,000 prisoners are freed,” Abbas said in reference to the Palestinians still held in Israel.

“I promise you that there will be other groups like the one today until there is an end to the suffering of all our detainees,” Abbas told the crowd in the courtyard of his headquarters.

The release came just hours after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected attempts by two organisations to block the move by arguing that the freed Palestinians would “resume their terrorist activities.”

Israel’s cabinet last month approved the release as a gesture to Abbas, whose West Bank-based administration is leading the peace talks with the Jewish state. None are accused of involvement in deadly attacks on Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Olmert told President Abbas at their last meeting in November of his plan to release 250 Palestinians, but a government committee approved only 230 names.

The committee ruled out freeing Palestinians who belong to radical groups such as the Hamas movement or those implicated in deadly attacks.

The decision to free the Palestinians was widely seen as an attempt to strengthen moderate Palestinians against Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 from forces loyal to Abbas.—AFP